The First Shadow Before the Darkness
by Soren Talen
Summary: This ties Final Fantasy to Kingdom Hearts, explaining how Leon and Yuffie got to Traverse Town, what happened to Cloud, what the HECK happened to Ansem, and so on. T for violence. I can't seem to write a story without giving Reno a chapter...
1. Introduction

Author's note: This is my super duper fanfic on how Final Fantasy got involved in Kingdom Hearts. I will admit that it may seem incredibly stupid in the beginning, but that is just because it was meant to be a stupid four paragraph story in the beginning. Then, of course, I got into it and stayed up until almost dawn writing it. It should fill up any holes between all the Final Fantasy and the start of Kingdom Hearts, including how the heck Selphie becomes 12 when Squall is still an adult. Just a warning here, there will be quite a lot of character deaths in this story, so those with weak hearts may not want to read it. I don't want to be eaten alive by Tifa, Vivi, Vincent, or other fans that want to tear me apart for such deaths.

Disclaimer: I don't own Square Enix or just about anything in this whole story.

Once upon a time there was this guy named Cloud. He had saved the world in his day, and was now happily living with this girl named Tifa in a condo. It was a time of peace, love, prosperity, and people knew a lot. It had been found out that the world was really a lot bigger than anyone had thought. See, people had known the world was round, and they could fully circle it to get to other areas. What they didn't know is at a certain place a bit of old magic still held that jumped a person over five thousand miles to the other part of your earth. That magic suddenly died, revealing an immense world, so big it was almost impossible. So Cloud and Tifa did the only thing they knew how to do.

ROAD TRIP. They went around the world, visiting strange places called Spira and Belamb, and all these other cities. Citizens never ceased to be amazed by the flood of cultures that suddenly met for the first time in millions of years. Cloud got drunk in almost every bar with almost every beer. Tifa talked with this total hotty named Seymour. She went out with him, but he fell for some slut named Yuna and then she total wasted him. Amazingly enough people in these other continents had actually found a way to extend life, so people could live up to 500 years old, and research kept revealing results.

After a year of roadtripping 'round the globe, visiting every city and remote areas, Cloud settled down in a city called Turdan. Turdan was the greatest city of all, bigger than the Midgar _continent. _Despite what you are thinking, that it's a gray depressing city that pollutes the world, Turdan was surprisingly fresh. Its residential areas were more like the suburbs at even the most crowded part, and it wasn't unusual for the city to be interrupted by acres of farmland. Yup, a perfect city in all respects, Turdan quickly became the capitol of the world. Ansem, a young and promising man, had been voted President of the world.

All heroes that had saved the world in the past had been given medals and free even bigger condos in Turdan. Tifa was enraged to see that that slut Yuna was now her next door neighbor. Using all of his hero money, Cloud found the secret of how to bring Aeris back to life. He traveled half across the world back to The Lake and used Phoenix Down on Aeris's badly rotten corpse.

Aeris returned from the grave and traveled home with Cloud. Tifa was in tears, yelling that Cloud 'Didn't even love her' and ran off. She ended up bumping into a person on a street corner and crying into a very startled Reno's shoulder. Cloud and Aeris didn't mind. Ansem ran the world well, and they had weekly barbecue poker nights with all their neighbors.

And so life went on as it should, reunions happened often, and no one forgot each other. Cloud often went off with Zidane and Tidus to do some serious mischief, and only Squall stopped it from becoming a catastrophe. Then the sad part happened.

End note: Please review. I hope not to even see flames yet, since nothing remotely exciting has occured.


	2. Ansem's Madness

Author's note: Yes, I love Reno. While he plays no part in Kingdom Hearts, I have decided to use him to further the story and let you guys see what a nutjob Ansem really is. My friend believes he's a Sephiroth clone that used spray-on tan, but that's another story.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the many characters here, or anything else.

It was a normal day for Reno. He had been to the bar with his friends Elena and Rude (Tseng had an appointment). Tifa had passed out into a coma ever since he had first felt her cry a waterfall onto his shoulder, and was upstairs in his house until she recovered. He sighed, staring up at the building he worked in. He had always pictured himself as an idiot, so he didn't really try to act like anything else. When he worked for ShinRa, he killed who needed to be killed, and got done what had to be got done. All except for one thing, and that was killing Cloud and that gang.

At first he didn't know why he had held back, but then he realized at a subconscious level he approved of what Cloud and the others were doing. It isn't easy getting a sword rammed up your leg every time he met the spiky haired soldier, but it was a heck of a lot easier than being a 'defective Turk' and given to Hojo as a present. Reno shuddered at the thought. He was known as one of the 'bad guys' (Oh no!) but they could think what they wanted to. They were probably right anyhow, but Reno was just himself, so they could all get ran over by wild chocobos.

Going up the stairs in the Grand Foyer, he checked in and got to work. Reno was now a teacher. He taught the use of weapons to almost 100 students a day, and that was a lot considering how much work all these kids born in peacetime needed. The thought of being a law abiding city folk gave him the creeps, but Reno could only helplessly accept that that was exactly what he was- or...at least a lot closer than he'd ever like to be. Every once in a while he'd go out with this kid named Zidane and have some fun, though, just because he felt he needed to break out of the image of 'teacher' to keep his sanity.

Ansem was very active in his schools, even making sure that many fighting classes were in his own Presidential building complex. He'd often check in on students to see how they were doing. Personally Ansem also gave Reno the creeps, with his slate gray eyes examining every inch of everything. It reminded him of Hojo, and the long gray hair didn't really reassure him much, because Ansem did _not _look weak. The redheaded ex-Turk entered his classroom, already knowing the class was there.

"Heh, you're late Professor Reno!" yelled a girl happily. That was Shelby, one of his youngest students at the age of 14. Reno smiled a roguish grin, which made many of his students laugh. They all seemed really immature for a group of teens and young adults, but he had the effect on people sometimes.

"Call me Professor again, and we'll see who's late," he said. Reno insisted all his students call him by his first name, and anyone who called him Professor was as good as dead.

Shelby took out her double whip, a truly challenging weapon, and went into fighting stance. "Try me!"

The rest of the day went fast, and before he knew it, class was over. It wasn't any puny hour either; he had to spend five whole hours trapped with those crazy students. Just as he was about to descend the staircase, a friendly female voice magnified by magic echoed through the room:

"Reno, please report to President Ansem's office. I repeat..." (She repeated)

Reno blinked. It wasn't every day you get called there. As a matter of fact, the only time he had ever been up there was when he had his interview to actually get his job. After a few corridors and a spiral staircase, he reached the office. Through brass double doors was a large, airy room that was carpeted and wallpapered purple. The one wall curved out gently as was entirely made of glass, allowing Ansem to look down into the city. Ansem was currently doing just that.

"Ah, Reno," he said in his surprisingly bass voice, "Just the man I wanted to see."

Reno did his very best not to raise an eyebrow. Of course he was who Ansem had wanted to see, Ansem had just called him up here after all.

"I've been doing research for the past year or so, and I want your opinion," Ansem continued. Reno lost the battle for control of his eyebrow at that point. Him? Research?

"Maybe you should send someone else. I probably don't know much about what you've been researching," Reno said, baffled.

"Maybe..." said Ansem, still not even turning. "But I'd like you to hear what I've gathered all the same. Please, sit down." Reno shrugged and walked over to a chair. He turned it around, sat on it backwards, supported his elbows on the chair back, and gave Ansem his full attention. Sitting that way, he looked more like a cocky kid in detention than an employee speaking with his boss.

"During my stay in this citadel, I have had a lot of work to do," Ansem began. "They don't lay the full load on me of course, for no one would be able to handle every little problem in the world. But leaders of other cities seem to find joy in having a superior to turn to, so I have been their superior. This citadel is vast, and one night I found myself in a corridor I had never seen before. I knew I must have made a wrong turn, but the place intrigued me, so I kept on."

Reno wondered how long this would be. As Ansem talked, he stared out of the window, letting his mind unfocuse. Ansem's story had already woven a picture in his head.

"At the end of the passageway was a staircase, which led to a basement. I was amazed to find that such a large castle was indeed sitting on a large and open network of caverns. The caverns themselves were enough, but then I noticed the creatures that inhabited them. They were dark and mysterious, hardly the size of a cat, with glowing yellow eyes and antennae hanging over their faces. Have you ever seen such a thing on your travels?" he asked, looking at Reno suddenly.

Reno shivered slightly as that steely gaze focused on him. He could have sworn he had seen it flash red. Something about how his boss talked creeped him out even more than usual. It was an unreasonable fear, but it was a fear all the same.

"No, I've never even heard of them," he replied truthfully. Ansem seemed satisfied, and turned back to the window.

"I was caught by surprise, and jumped backwards. Unfortunately, another one was behind me, and I jumped on it. It gave no sound, but dissolved into a dusty shadow that cleared away. I marveled at that, for surely no creature could become shadow at its death. Even though it was late, I hurried back to my study to ponder over these events. Everything becomes what it once was when it dies. When we die, our bodies become dirt and soil again. When the creature died, it became shadow. Therefore the creature had to have been made from shadow, yes?" Ansem said, thankfully not looking at him that time.

"Sounds right to me," Reno replied.

"I returned to the caverns and experimented on those creatures. I was shocked to find that it had nothing inside it, not even a heart. Its body was entirely made and thriving from the darkness it became when it died. I named them the Heartless..." Ansem paused. Reno blinked again, trying to make sense of a blurry line on the horizon. It was black, and might have even been a silhouette of a forest if he hadn't known that there was no forest there. The sun was low in the sky, but there were a few hours before it set. Reno supposed it was just a trick of the glare.

"For many months I traveled or sent others to, learning that the heartless had been about for centuries before us. There were records old and lost that told of them. I found that the darkness inside them was indeed a power source, far greater than coal or Mako, or even pure Lifestream," Ansem declared. Reno noticed that he was talking faster now. The line on the horizon seemed to be getting bigger instead of going away.

"When a few people were put in with these creatures for a while, they disappeared. There had been an increase of the creatures, however. I even witnessed one of the obvious transformations. The heartless fed on others hearts. Not the physical one that keeps us all alive or the mental one that is the romantic part of our soul. No, the true heart of people is a mixture of physical and mental attributes that are what we are. When that person lost his heart, he transformed, becoming a heartless himself, while the heartless remained unchanged. When the heart of a person is consumed, he is turned into darkness. Thus, darkness must be what all of us have been born from. The physical remains are nothing more than stability since we cannot hold our forms of pure darkness as the heartless do!"

Ansem's voice was becoming exultant, and Reno was getting pretty disturbed. He had actually placed people down there to get killed or 'turned' for his own little guinea pigs? What kind of freak was this guy? The ex-Turk wanted to hit Ansem over the head, or at least get the hell of there, but he somehow knew that any movement would break Ansem out of his frenzy. Reno didn't want to think of what Ansem would do then, and it might be important to know what else he did anyway.

"I knew there had to be a way to control heartless, and after a few months of more experimenting, I made a heartless of my own. I started creating hundreds of many different kinds, my own army I could control. I found ways to alter myself, pulling me closer to darkness and ultimate power. I had found more knowledge than any man had ever known! Now I must return this city to darkness, so I may find my way to the other worlds," Ansem finished, turning his gaze back to Reno. His eyes were a definite red now, and he was grinning maliciously. He gestured towards the window.

The thin line on the horizon had become a large blot. In it Reno could just make out individual figures in that dark mass, heading towards the city. That sick son of a-

"Fantastic isn't it?" Ansem asked. "Soon my army shall wipe out this world, granting me enough power to travel to others."

"You'll kill everyone!" protested Reno angrily. Even Rufus or even Sephiroth weren't this crazy. He just couldn't believe it.

"At least half of them won't die..." corrected Ansem. Reno took his meaning, and took out his electric rod.

"You... are one sick son of a-" he began, but cut off in a small yelp of pain as Ansem sent a thick wave of air at his rod. It hit his hand like someone chucked a wrench at him, and he could hear the crack of his bone breaking. The electric rod slid useless into a corner.

"You will get to watch, Reno. You'll get to see my beautiful army hitting this town like an ocean. They will come upon this citadel last, so you'll get the full show. Have fun!"

"Those things better eat your heart too- sorry- what's left of it!" Reno growled, lunging for the President. Ansem laughed cruelly, and disappeared before Reno could even tackle him.

Reno ran to the door, which had... disappeared. Okay. He tested out the strength of the wall with a handy chair, ignoring the stabbing pain emitting from his hand. Panting slightly from his 'fun', Reno decided he'd have to try to glass. He used the chair on it as hard as he could manage. The glass didn't shatter; heck, it didn't even chip or crack.

As far as he could see, he was trapped in this room. After twenty more minutes of relentless pounding of the walls and glass with various objects (Including the chair, desk, electric rod, and a solid steel flagpole) he hadn't gained anything. The heartless army had just reached the gates of the city, and Reno paused to watch in horror.

They took down the gates with blasts of magic, darkness, and claws. Apparently some could even fly. It almost seemed toy-like from this height, with little toy soldiers coming to meet the upcoming tide of darkness they had absolutely no chance on. It was unlike any other war in history. There was no warning, only a bloodbath. The heartless didn't fight so much as swarm over the people. At most points the marketplace below looked like a malign pool of dark water. Still, almost none of the people knew until it was too late. He could clearly see the inn in which Elena, Rude, and Tifa were staying at right then.

"Elena! Rude! Get the hell out of there!" he shouted, knowing but not caring that there was absolutely no way they could hear him. They just had to know. The heartless went inside the inn, but he couldn't make out anything. Unnoticed tears rolled down his face as he yelled their names brokenly. It wasn't just them either; everyone who lived on this planet was dead. There was no hope whatsoever that they could stand up to this force, even if they had time to form a suitable resistance.

Reno was forced to watch as his city was taken within the hour. A whole continent taken in one hour, and he couldn't even be out there to die with them. Suddenly a large winged heartless flew at the window. Reno glared at it, even going as far as to make a rude sign involving his not broken hand. It hovered there, regarding him, and then used magic. The whole glass wall shattered, sending shards of glass all around. He felt the blast as well as the glass hurl into him even as he slammed into the opposite wall. And then everything faded.

End note: Even in a totally un-Reno related story, I can still get some Reno torturing in. Yay. Still no one's died, (no one we can see in detail anyway) but don't think I'm going to use that flimsy view of the end of the world. Nope, next chapter you get to see Cloud's point of view. Down in the fray.


	3. Just a Cloud or Squall

Author's Note: Can heartless overcome a whole group of heroes? Let's just say Cloud will never let himself get a little 'rusty' ever again. A certain silver hairedvillian appears, (these days, it could be anyone) what will they do?

Disclaimer: I don't own Square, or these people.

Cloud hummed softly as he barbecued on his grill. Aeris, Rinoa, Quistis, Yuna, and all the other ladies sat at the table, chatting. Some of the men including Squall, Barret, Cid, Ivine, Zidane, Red, Tidus, and Zell were playing their own version of blitzball. Vincent sat off on the sidelines as the goalie, and this game really needed one considering all the foul play. The lamps had come on to illuminate the area since the sun had just set. After dinner the girls would go out their late night shopping expedition while all the guys played poker.

Suddenly, a small black creature walked its way into the yard. It seemed strangely innocent, almost cute, but it twitched disturbingly. The mixed 'aws' and 'ews' of the girls seemed to say they thought the same thing. Then several not-so-small black creatures invaded his yard, trying to attack. Zell, Red, and Barret started retaliating immediately, with Vincent not far behind since he always seemed to have his gun. The others made a mad dash for their weapons. In about thirty seconds those black things were dead meat. They should have known better than to mess with this troop.

Then about five hundred more surrounded them, glaring at them with alien eyes.

"Squall, these things must be everywhere!" Cloud yelled.

"We should go see if we can help the town. Yours and Zidane's group should stay here, but we'll go to help," Squall replied. The groups split up and went their separate ways.

Squall ran down the streets, twisting and turning with Zell, Quistis, Selphie, Rinoa, and Irvine behind. After about twelve minutes of dodging creatures they had made it to the square. It was like hell had decided to bubble out of the ground. Even though his gunblade slashed through more heartless than he had time to count, two just came to replace the last. He obtained a growing amount of cuts and bruises, and could hear Irvine healing Selphie for the third time a little desperately. This was so wrong, how could it be happening?

"Elena! Rude! Tifa! It was all Ansem, you have to get the hell out of their before his heartless army swarms you! God damn it, run!" Squall heard a voice cry out. He didn't know where it came from, and though it seemed incredibly loud to him, the others showed no sign of hearing it. Ansem? This made no sense, and there was no time to think.

After a half hour of fighting, the others were out of any magic energy or cures, and were seriously exhausted and hopeless. Somewhere deep inside, despite Irvine's assurances to Selphie that they'd somehow pull through, everyone knew they were going to die here.

"SELPHIE!" Irvine cried out in horror. Squall twisted, seeing a blur of yellow dress hit the ground before it was covered in a twitching mound of heartless. Irvine shot with careful calculated aim, melting away layer after layer of the heartless that barred hi way. Squall sliced up as many as he could, finally revealing a the limp form of a tiny brunette.

"Cure!" Irvine said, sounding very strained. Squall knew at once that Irvine had no power to do magic at this point, and shouldn't have even done that. Still, a green wisp of magic flew around Selphie with the pleasant tinkle of bells. Irvine got down on his knees next to her. Her eyes flickered open, immediately fixing on Irvine. With a small sigh, her eyes closed with a smile on her face. A pinkish thing burst out of her chest, disappearing as a heartless leapt up and consumed it. Squall didn't need to feel her pulse to know Selphie was gone.

"NO!" Irvine said in disbelief. "Life! Cure! Cure! Cure!" Irvine said repeatedly, brokenly. Already at a dangerous point, Squall knew he couldn't afford it. He shook Irvine.

"Stop it! You're going to kill yourself! She already dead! Dead!" he said, knowing it was harsh. As if to prove his point, her body disappeared into a shadowy smoke, instantly scattered away. Irvine stared at him in anguish, and then his eyes went strangely blank. He simply sat there with that unseeing stare that made Squall shiver inwardly.

"Come on, Irvine, get up," he said. Irvine didn't resist as he helped him up, but then he just stood there, still as unresponsive as when he had been sitting down. A low whistle came through the air as a rocket ship landed into the square, squishing a few yards of heartless. Cloud and Zidane jumped out, followed by their fellows.

"Cid's getting us out of here!" Cloud yelled. "Find anyone you can and take them with us, especially woman and children!" Large heartless began to flood the marketplace, some with large shields, spikes, magic, and horns. Rinoa grabbed Irvine gently but firmly by the arm and led him to the ship. Squall mentally thanked her, quite able to believe Irvine would just stand there staring out into space until he died left like that. He ran through the ruckus, finding a frightened and crying child. He grabbed the girl up and hauled her into the ship, then went back for another...

(Switch)

Cloud jumped out of the ship and fought his way through a large force of creatures. He could here the frightened cry of a kid right beyond them. Once he made it through here, and he'd see him or her. But behind each line of things there was a next one, and each line made him more desperate to get to that kid.

Finally he broke through. A small child sat on the ground, cowering up against the wall. It had silver hair, 'how old for a child,' Cloud thought. Suddenly the kid stopped cowering and got up. In that one motion the kid seemed to expand and grow and when he was to his feet, Sephiroth stood before him.

The silver haired man laughed chillingly. "I'll take care of Aeris for you," he sneered tauntingly. Then he raised his hand and sent a large wave of multicolored light through Cloud. Though it just simply passed through, he felt like it was trying to take his insides with it. The hero cried out in pain, falling to his knees. His back burned, and he let out another cry as the burn because a white hot searing. He didn't need to be able to see his back to know that a wing had just burst out of it, he just knew. A weird sort of fire burned through his head as well. Sephiroth was gone, but that didn't matter now.

Cloud stared at the area around him, shady and quiet. He had killed so many of these things, that their black blood drenched his sword, hands, and most of his clothes. Weirdly enough, the wing had disappeared, and he could get a rational thought in again. His head still spun slightly from the kill fest he had just been in, though. Cloud looked around the empty ally, and then noticed a crimson blur at the far end. He had just cleared this area of heartless, but it was painfully obvious that there had been heartless here. Vincent Valentine sat against the wall, his crimson eyes open in that glassy stare of someone unmistakably dead.

Cloud's head finally stopped spinning, and he felt an almost overwhelming pull of grief. He walked over to Vincent and bent down next to his late friend. He gently removed Vincent's armored claw gauntlet, revealing an even paler arm from lack of sunlight. The arm was covered in scars from needles that Vincent must have received from his episode with Hojo. Cloud didn't blame him for wanting to cover it up, no one needs to be reminded of the shame of that.

What had happened just then? He hadn't really transformed, except for that wing, but his mind had went totally kill happy. Cloud put on Vincent's claw and also took his cape, wrapping the almost totally shredded piece of cloth around him.

"I'm just like you now, I guess," Cloud said gravely to Vincent's corpse. "Too bad you aren't here; I really could have used some advice."

Cloud returned to the ship just in time to avoid having search parties sent after him. They didn't say anything about the added claw or cape, but he did inform them of Vincent's death. They told him many others had died, including almost all of Zidane's party. Zidane seemed the same as usual, though he stared out into space a lot and him trying to make light of things seemed a little weak. Irvine had been completely devastated by Selphie's death, and seemed almost like a hollow shell. It wasn't exactly a coma, since he moved around; but he only moved if someone directly told him to. Quistis had tried to get him to talk, but so far hadn't had any luck. His eyes only seemed one step above the glassy stare of Valentine that he had seen only five minutes ago.

The things, which Squall identified as heartless (How the hell did he know?), turned their attention to the ship, and Cid had no choice but to take off. Out into space they flew. It was the first time this rocket ship had been tested. Sure, people had gone up to the moons, but going off somewhere without a destination was just idiotic. Suddenly their whole planet was doomed, and it made Cloud feel as if everything he had ever done pointless and stupid. Some people were looking at him as if wondering whether he would become the new Vincent. He probably looked that way, wearing Vincent's cape and claw while sitting silent and grim in a corner.

Suddenly he saw this whole thing as so pointless, so strange, that it was hilarious. He laughed loudly, knowing it sounded maniac but not caring. Every head jerked towards him in amazement and confusion, and Zidane made a rather nervous quip. He continued laughing, wondering why they couldn't see it, and then his world dissolved and everything went black.

End Note: Can you tell it was getting a little too early for me there? I think that was about 2:30 am. If you couldn't see it this chapter, the next one'sa given.


	4. Into Oblivion

Author's Note: After this chapter I swear I won't kill anyone else. Heh, I changed my mind a little, so two people I mentioned on the first page might not be _exactly _dead.

Reno felt the cool, rough wall against his back. A dead sort of wind blew his hair back, making his bangs tickle his face. He lifted his hand to brush them away, and was rewarded with a fresh burst of pain that brought a low moan out of him. Right, that hand was broken. He tried to lift his other one, but received even more pain. That one wasn't _supposed_ to be broken. He forced his eyes open to reveal a crimson stained world. Reno painfully blinked the blood out of his eyes. That was not a good sign.

A bit of silver glinted in the pale sunlight that flooded into the room. It was his electric rod. It was about three yards away. Reno knew this was not going to be pleasant at all, considering the condition of his arms alone and the blinding headache that was already building. He prepared himself mentally for the pain, and apologized to his comfortably numb body parts for the wreckage they were about to feel. With one fluid movement, Reno lunged for the rod, knowing that he'd never have the ability to take the pain of getting to it one step at a time. He cried out in pain as his whole body twisted and seared, and passed out.

The carpet smelled like copper. A flat, metal tinted scent that turned him stomach. His pain afflicted brain took a few moments to realize that he was actually smelling his blood. His left hand was on the rubber handle of his electric rod. He had made it. Reno clenched his teeth and opened up a compartment in it, doing his best to not pass out this time. He probably didn't have time left. He reached in the compartment,touching the cool-almost wet- feel of materia under his fingertips.

"Cure," he muttered softly. Reno heard the click of his bones mending and a clatter as his flesh forced out the hundreds of shards of glass that had buried itself inside him. Reno forced himself to his feet, taking his electric rod with him. He felt very stiff and exhausted, and there were still many nasty cuts and bruises that would be a lot better healed. He didn't dare us Cure again in this state though; not until he gained a bit more energy. Reno looked around the room. The door had miraculously decided to show its ugly brass face again, which Reno found horribly ironic.

The redheaded man staggered down the stairs, taking long breaks where he needed them. He felt totally wasted, and was surprised that he was even alive. He saw his classroom, neatly abandoned. It awaited the next day of students that would never come. Were all his students dead? Were Elena, Rude, and Tseng dead? Was Tifa dead? Was everyone dead? The place certainly gave off the illusion of being alone. The only sound was the dead rattle of the wind.

Once out in the marketplace, Reno headed immediately to the inn. It was very torn up inside. Stools and tables were turned over, and beer glasses were shattered all around. He looked all around behind the bar, under tables, everywhere. A terrible suspense built in him, constraining his chest and twisting his stomach. He didn't feel that good to begin with, and resisted the urge to retch. He knew why. He was afraid to find something. Behind each overturned table could be the corpse of one of his friends, and he didn't want to find them- not that way.

He climbed the inn's stairs and checked each room. They were all empty, even Tifa's room. Reno's back felt extremely uncomfortable, as if something was watching him. He sat down on a bed, trying to calm himself down enough to think.

Reno opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He jumped up to his feet, looking around some more.

"I must have fallen asleep..." he said with a sigh. It was a stupid thing to do, but he did feel better after a little rest. It was still light outside, probably about noon. He stiffened as a shuffling sound echoed across the room. He went into the hallway, followed the sound. His sweaty hand gripped the electric rod tightly. He paused at the top of the stairs, for there was one of the heartless. It was just one, and one of the originals but the look of it. None of Ansem's freaks, just your everyday being of darkness.

Yet standing in the same place was a tall girl. Her brown eyes were disturbingly blank, and she gave the most lifeless stare he had ever seen. (And he had seen a lot of people who had the life taken out of them)

"T-tifa..." he whispered with wide eyes. Her image flickered and disappeared. The heartless remained for a few seconds, but then also did the same. Reno felt the sting of tears in his eyes. A large amount of emotions welled up in him all at once. With a strangled cry, he found himself running, blinded by tears and refusal to see. He just needed to get away from there, away from the whole planet. Reno fell to his knees in the dead center of the marketplace, watching his tears blotch the bloodstained pavement.

"I just want to be gone; I don't care how;" he gasped to the stone. The pavement flickered weirdly, just as Tifa had, and became a gaping hole of darkness. He sunk into it, and let his eyes close...

(Switchness)

"Is Cloud alright?" asked Garnet, looking over his limp body. Aeris had propped him up on a chair carefully.

"Yeah, it probably was just a lot of pressure," Aeris said in a tone that was supposed to be carefree. Garnet wasn't fooled, since the brunette hadn't stopped crying since they got on the ship. She didn't blame Aeris, and her eyes weren't exactly dry either, but the woman seemed to feel the need that she should hide the fact she was miserable.

With a sigh Garnet let her eyes scan the small room. The lack of some seemed to jump out at her, like large amounts of missing people in a parade. In Cloud's party, Barret, Tifa, Vincent, and Red. Aeris was busy with Cloud, and Cid was obviously driving the ship. Yuffie seemed weirdly effected by the absence of Vincent to follow around and annoy. She now hovered a few feet away from Squall, as if somehow he could be a replacement.

Squall wasn't being very reassuring to her. He answered in short small answers, even though Quistis assured them this was normal. Selphie and Zell had both died, and whatever happened to Rinoa must have been really horrible; Quistis wouldn't even talk about it. Right now she was still trying to get some progress out of Irvine. Garnet was a little impressed. Somehow the blonde had gotten Irvine to answer, though it was only usually one word answers.

Zidane seemed very badly shaken by this, but was fighting hard to maintain his cool. She couldn't help being a little proud of him for that. It was about the only thing she could hold onto when the whole ship was heavy with despair. Steiner was right behind her, and that was a comfort in itself. But everyone else had died, Eiko, Coral, Freya, and Quina Quen. No one knew what happened to Vivi. Garnet didn't really want to know, since every one of those heartless bore an unmistakable resemblance to their little black mage. The loss of Vivi probably hit her the hardest; he still seemed like kid no matter what they went through.

Garnet turned to Yuna, who was staring at her hands with a weird look. Paine and Rikku (well mostly Rikku) were murmuring soft words to her. Something along the lines of 'it wasn't your fault'. Lulu was in a corner opposite to Squall, staring at her moogle doll thoughtfully. Kimahri had been lost in the fray, but Garnet knew what really troubled her. She herself had seen Tidus and Wakka fighting back to back surrounded by huge horned heartless. Instead of dying cleanly, they had lost their hearts in a way very similar to what Squall had described about Selphie. Auron probably had the most spectacular death. When he received a mortal blow to the chest, he took down about two hundred heartless with him. Garnet could remember him yelling something, though she couldn't understand him. Whatever he said made the entire market square explode into hellish flame, leaving all innocents intact but not a heartless to be seen. Even with that great sacrifice more heartless came to take their brothers' place.

After the way almost everything had fallen, she couldn't belief that anyone was sane. About twenty kids were huddled in the corner with Paine now. For some reason the weirdly red eyed girl had taken a liking to the kids, and soothed them in gentle tones. Even though a rather cynical speech came from her, the children took it to heart and Paine was almost smothered by forty hugging hands. Garnet felt a laugh coming, but it seemed to die in her throat. She imagined it would be a while before anyone would be able to laugh.

"Careful, Paine, those are some dangerous man-eating children there," Zidane chuckled. Garnet rolled her eyes; at least _most _of them wouldn't be able laugh. Zidane could be such a selfish jerk. If he started hitting on Paine… she shook her head and unclenched her fists… then she would NOT care.

"Cloud, are you alright?" came Aeris's voice. Garnet turned to see Cloud's eyes flicker open. It might have been a trick of the light, but for a moment they had seemed red. Anyway, they were a pretty cerulean now.

Whether Cloud was all right or not they would probably never find out. The ship started to shake and buck around. The children screamed as one and became an even closer knit pack around Paine. Garnet almost fell, but a strong hand saved her and held her close.

"You'll be fine," said Zidane happily. She wanted to smack him and kiss him at the same time.

"There's this disturbance up ahead!" came Cid's voice from the front of the ship. "I think it's some sort of black hole, and we're in for one $#! landin' if there's something on the other side! Hell, I'm not even sure this ship can take the pressure of getting there!"

Garnet mindlessly compromised and hugged Zidane fiercely as they both fell to the floor from the tremors. She heard the breath whoosh out of him as he hit the floor, but he didn't let go. 'That jerk deserves it,' she managed to think, though it was mainly out of habit. With a swift glance around the room, she saw others doing the same to their loved ones. Cloud held onto Aeris, the children to Paine, Kimahri to Rikku and Yuna, and so on. Weirdly enough Yuffie clung onto Squall, and Quistis _had _to cling onto Irvine to make sure he wouldn't take any brain trauma.

The once princess felt the whole ship contract, including herself. It was one of the weirdest feelings she had ever had, the other being holding onto Zidane right now. God, they were all going to die… Then the sickening sound of tearing metal screeched above the sound of protesting engines. The ship tore into two and at once Garnet felt the biting chill of space. The squeezing of it became almost unbearable, and all she could feel was Zidane's hand. She closed her eyes tight so she wouldn't have to see herself die.

"Aeris! No! Sephiroth, leave her alone!" Cloud cried out. Garnet opened her eyes and ignored the sting. She saw Aeris floating off, looking unconscious, but she didn't see the mighty Sephiroth Cloud had told stories about. Cloud looked pretty hysterical and clawed at the airlessness to get a hold of Aeris with much luck. Then Aeris, Yuffie, and Squall fell out of the tunnel of weird light and disappeared. Maybe… if she could get Zidane and her out of here, they'd find air. Her lungs burned, and she couldn't think that straight. She felt another hand grab hers and saw Steiner. Garnet was momentarily guilty for not thinking of him, he had always protected her after all.

With a mighty throw Steiner sent her- and Zidane- spinning for the outside. She opened her mouth in a soundless scream. He couldn't just save them and let himself die! Steiner waved to her grimly before he zapped out of sight. Even as the multi colored 'black hole' left her vision, so did everything else as she passed out.

End Note: Cid can put two and two together, especially when it comes to machines. After that little episode, you better bet he found out how to make some better ships. (Yes people, the 'black hole' was a warp hole. Since everyone got thrown out of it at random places, they got scattered throughout the worlds.)

Top of Form


	5. Beginnings of an Adventure

Author's Note: The last chapter in a short but fun story. Yes, Yuffie is annoying. Wait a minute... I just realized. Out of my favorite characters, Yuffie has been paired with all of them. Squall, in KH; Reno, in lots of fanfiction; and Vincent, in lots of fanfiction. Does that mean I have a lot in common with Yuffie? Disturbing, I just won't think about it.

"Gawd… that hurt like hell…" whined a voice next to him. Squall painfully opened his eyes, then quickly closed them again to block out the neon lights. The message still burned in his head though- Traverse Town. He heard someone get to their feet next to him, but he couldn't find the will to get up. Someone decided he didn't have a choice.

"Squall! You're alive… I think! Squall? SQUALL?" said the voice again. Squall… he didn't deserve or want that name. Squall had let everyone on his planet die or worse. Squall had left them all to it. He didn't want to be Squall anymore.

"That's Leon," he corrected her faintly, picking a name at random.

"Leon? I'm not Leon! I'm Yuffie! Did you scramble your brains?" she demanded. Yuffie, of course. He winced; did she have to talk that loud?

"Not you. Me," he corrected her again, still not opening his eyes.

"You must have really scrambled your brains. How many fingers am I holding up?" said Yuffie. Squall felt her cold fingers pry his eyelids open, while her other hand was a few inches away from his face. Three fingers were clearly raised.

"Twelve," he said dryly. Yuffie, of course, took it seriously and bombarded his eardrums.

"THAT'S NOT RIGHT! We need to get you medical attention!"

"Just calm down. I'm fine," he reassured her, mainly to shut her up. He opened his eyes again, letting them adjust to the glare. They were in a neat cobble stoned town with people bustling around. He saw that they were receiving quite a few stares, but the really odd thing is that no seemed as surprised as they should. As he got to his feet with the help of a handy street lamp pole, a woman in a pink dress ran over.

"Yuffie? Squall? Thank goodness I've found you. Have you seen Cloud?" asked Aeris.

"We haven't seen anyone else yet," said Yuffie.

"My name's Leon," added Squall quietly. Aeris gave him an odd stare, but then she looked thoughtful.

"Actually, that's a good idea. I've met a few people here and our names probably seem a little weird to them. To avoid any unnecessary attention, we should change our names a little. I'll be Aerith," she explained.

"Will you $#!$ wait up!" called another familiar voice. Cid hopped over a parapet and landed in the main area. He skidded to a stop near them, panting.

"Can't…even…wait…at my age…shouldn't….#&$#…too much," the engineer mumbled in between gasps as he caught his breath.

"Sorry, Cid!" Aeris smiled apologetically. "Anyway, we were just discussing changing names to better fit in here. This place obviously isn't our world, after all."

Squall knew Aeris had his sudden name change all wrong but made no move to correct her about his intentions. He didn't feel like being called stupid by Yuffie or any them.

"&#!$, I'll keep my name whatever I want," disagreed Cid.

"And another thing," said Aeris. She hit Cid firmly but lightly on the head with her pole. "You have to clean up your mouth Cid. We don't know what kind of place this is, and right now the more we fit in the better."

"Well from what I've heard people have been dropping out of the skies and appearing in alleyways all &#… all day," he rearranged his questionable grammar hastily as Aeris raised her pole again.

"Still…"

Finally Yuffie spoke up. It almost seemed that it caused the ninja physical pain to be silent for more than a minute. "Guys…" she whined, "Can we just find a hotel or something? Pleeeeeeaase?"

(Switch)

…And finally let his eyes open. There was almost no light, but from what Reno could make out, he was just in an empty room. There might be enemies anywhere, and he was grateful that he still had his electric rod. Carefully getting up, he examined the place further. There was only one door, but before he could move towards it; it opened.

A man walked in, and for a second Reno thought he was looking in a mirror. The man's eyes were the exact shade of green as his, and his hair was also extremely similar. (He didn't have the ponytail in the back though) Heck, the guy even had a scar under each eye. With Reno his scars were under and curved away from his eyes. The man's scars were under each eye and vertical. And of course the guy was wearing a black cloak, but if they had both dressed the same way then it would be really weird. Reno carefully let his face loose all emotion as the man started to speak.

"My name is Axel. You are Reno, a once school teacher with a much more interesting past before that. That doesn't really matter now," Axel said, with a faint, twisted smile.

"You can fight. That's all we need to know. We're offering you a job in our little…. club, an organization if you like. Congratulations," said Axel, throwing a black cloak similar to what he was wearing at Reno. Reno refused to be an idiot fumbling over himself to catch the cloak and drool over Axel in gratitude like a dog. He neatly sidestepped the cloak and let it fall onto the floor. Axel's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Sorry," Reno said flatly, "I'm done with organizations."

"You don't really understand the situation," countered Axel. His voice was low and steady. "We are the ones who will save the world, and you can't afford to say no."

Reno didn't doubt for a moment that Axel wouldn't kill him. He knew he could put up a good fight, but he also doubted Axel was alone.

"Fine." Reno bent down to pick the cloak up and draped it over his shoulder. Axel nodded and left the room. Reno followed him. Sure, this organization would 'save the world', but 'save' was only an opinion. Technically, they could 'save' everyone by killing them. He had no choice but to join for now, but he absolutely refused to allow another cage to build up around him. As soon as those first bars rose, he would be out of here.

Reno's eyes caught a golden shine momentarily, which he realized came from someone's boots. They were pointed at the tips, and the person's pants were neatly tucked into them. Just like…

"Valentine?" he blurted. He didn't exactly whisper it, but it wasn't that loud. However, the cloaked person turned his head to look at him. Reno couldn't make out his face, but his eyes glowed an eerie yellow. It couldn't be… Reno jerked around as a person tugged his cloak.

To be honest, the guy was about as high as Yoda from an ancient series of remakes of even more ancient movies.

"Hey buddy," said the guy in a really squeaky voice, "The first thing you gotta do is deliver this to a hotel room in Traverse Town. It should be where a guy named Leon is. Don't be seen delivering it, okay?" The guy looked up at him- and he was a mouse?

The guy was talking real low and a bit nervous, and Reno had a feeling that this order wasn't part of the organization's plan at all. Perfect. He took the message from the mouse and nodded.

(Switch)

Yuffie sat on the hotel's bed, staring at Squall's face intently with her dark eyes. At the moment he was reading some scroll with a weird expression on his face. It was funny how much like Vincent he was. She knew there was something bothering him, and also knew she had a better chance of getting a frog to lay a chocobo egg than to get him to talk about it. Then again, he probably had as much reason to be unhappy as any of them did now.

"Whatcha reading?" she asked with an innocent smile.

"Nothing," he answered. Yuffie snorted. That piece of paper really looked like something to her- but maybe it was her imagination. Carefully… step by step… she maneuvered around to the other side of him. She stood on her tiptoes to get a look at it.

and that's what happened to your ruler Ansem. We've

got to find this 'keyblade' to get rid of Ansem- and

the darkness- quickly or it won't be no use. What he

did to your world will spread to others, so we need

to find the person the keyblade chose quickly. I think

he'll end up around Traverse Town, so keep your guard

up, ya know? I'll explain bett-

At that point Yuffie's tiptoes could no longer take the pain. With a yelp she fell over, knocking into Squall and nearly sending both of them into the table.

"Ack! Sorry! Squall, are you okay?" she squealed, trying to untangle herself from him. He pulled away and got to his feet.

"That's Leon," he said. Yuffie rolled her eyes and much to her surprise so did he. "I would have let you read it when I was done…" he sighed, giving the paper to her.

The ninja quickly scanned the paper, her eyes widening slightly. Keyblader? Darkness? Oh, how awesome….

"This means we get to go on another adventure!" she exulted. "I'm going to go look for the guy riiiiiiight now!" Yuffie cartwheeled out the door ready to work, ignoring Squall's attempt to stop her. She wouldn't let Cloud, Vincent, or anyone-else-dead-or-potentially-dead down. Finding a kid with a giant key to kick some dark butt, how hard could it be?

Squall watched as Yuffie did a little cartwheel out the door, the balcony door, and then…._splash_….right into the waterway in the alley outside the hotel. He hoped that water was deep enough to stop any broken bones.

"Squall, you jerk! Come down here and help me this instant! ……My foot's caught and I'm stuck…" she moaned.

"That's Leon!" he called as he walked to the edge of the balcony. A sopping wet Yuffie stared up at him pleadingly. She looked pretty pathetic, like a deer trying to tug its way out of a trap.

"Fine! I promise I'll _never _call you by your _real_ name again; just get me out of here!" she with such blatantly fake sincerity that it was almost scary. Squall didn't grace that with an answer, but he did jump down and gently unwedged her foot from the grate it was caught in.

"So who exactly are we supposed to be looking for?" she asked, wringing her scarf out. He just shrugged.

"Well, it's still just some guy or gal with an oversized key, and then getting him to slice open some manically laughing fruitcakes. _You _agree, right? It isn't gonna be hard."

Squall shrugged again, glancing around the dark alleyway. Like an unspoken answer, hundreds of bright yellow eyes watched in the shadows.

End Note: Okay, explaining the whole "Valentine?" thing. It is said tht Vincent _might _be in Kingdom Hearts 2. Also, the glowing eye unknown has boots exactly like Vincent. I know I killed him in this fic, but come on, he's Vincent. I wouldn't be surprised if he sat there dead for a week and then just suddenly popped back to life. (Actually that's how this fic originally ended) Yup, anyway, review me. You have no idea how much this would make my day.


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